Students from Rotorua Intermediate School gearing up for AIMS Games. Photo / Mead Norton
Students from Rotorua Intermediate School gearing up for AIMS Games. Photo / Mead Norton
Rotorua accommodation providers are benefiting from the AIMS Games as thousands of intermediate-aged athletes get ready to compete in the sports tournament.
The Zespri AIMS Games tournament returns to Tauranga from September 3-9 after a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19.
More than 25,000 athletes, officials and supporters are expected for the week-long sporting event for athletes aged 11 to 13. That includes local athletes from Rotorua Intermediate and Mokoia Intermediate.
Some schools say their athletes are basing themselves in Rotorua and travelling to Tauranga daily as accommodation there has been fully booked for months.
All Seasons Holiday Park Rotorua manager Tracie Thornborough said two AIMS Games teams were booked to stay, 14 from Rotorua and 44 from Waimauku, because they couldn't get accommodation in Tauranga.
Thornborough said the AIMS Games guests represented about 30 per cent of next week's bookings and there were still 15 family units available.
Kevin and Tracie Thornborough from All Seasons Holidays Park. Photo / Andrew Warner
"If it wasn't for the AIMS Games athletes and their supporters our bookings would probably be significantly down for the week."
A Ramada Resort by Wyndham Rotorua spokesman said it was fully booked during the tournament week, thanks in large part to the arrival of AIMS Games competitors from out of town, including Napier.
"August and September tend to be a quieter time in Rotorua so these bookings are welcome.
"Events like this that can help our city achieve strong visitation and bring new business all year round will have positive flow-on effects across tourism and hospitality, including to accommodation providers like us."
The spokesman also said these events were "extremely important now" as businesses look to bounce back strongly after the impact of Covid-19.
An economic impact report revealed the 2019 games injected nearly $6.5 million into the regional coffers and contributed 74,787 visitor nights to the region.
Reg Hennessy, the owner of Hennessy's Irish Bar and the president of the Bay of Plenty Hospitality Association, said the AIMS Games was a positive event and hoped some of that positivity "rubbed off" on Rotorua's hospitality sector.
"We support anything that not only adds to the vibrancy of the region but hopefully also means a significant financial boost for the local economy, and long may that continue," Hennessy said.
Reg Hennessy. Photo / Andrew Warner
Mokoia Intermediate principal Rawiri Wihapi said around 100 students from the school were competing in team and individual events across nine different sporting codes, with the large majority travelling into Tauranga daily.
"Our students are very excited particularly given that it has been two years since the last AIMS Games, and they have been training really hard since the end of the last term," Wihapi said.
"This is one of the largest sporting tournaments in the Southern Hemisphere and to be part of it is an exceptional opportunity for our students, officials and supporters."
Rotorua Intermediate principal Garry de Thierry said most of their athletes will be travelling to Tauranga for the games.
"In these financial times that was the better option. We admire all the teams travelling from the South Island."
De Thierry said the AIMS Games was a "fantastic" tournament and a "huge opportunity" for the students to discover a different level of potential.
"For some, it is their first taste of a national tournament."
Students from Rotorua Intermediate School gearing up for AIMS Games. Photo / Mead Norton
Rotorua Intermediate AIMS Games co-ordinator Heather Nahu said this year the school had about 60 students taking part.
That included one boy's sevens team, one girl's sevens team, one boy's futsal team and one boy's basketball team, as well as 17 athletes taking part in individual sports including cross country, golf, mountain biking, rock climbing, badminton, table tennis and gymnastics.
Nahu said excitement was building after a two-year hiatus from the tournament but it was "really crushing" for those who had been preparing for the 2020 and 2021 games.
"But now the excitement is building for our teams," she said. "It is their first step into having a goal and competing at an elite level."
Napier Intermediate's sports co-ordinator Benita Mareikura said the majority of their AIMS Games athletes and supporters would be staying at Rotorua's Ramada Resort By Wyndham.
Mareikura said students from the school had been competing at the tournament since 2010 and this year 27 students and 10 parents would be staying at the resort.
The school's athletes will be competing in indoor bowls, 3x3 basketball, mixed hockey, and yachting, with most of the team arriving in Rotorua on Sunday.
"But we also have another four students who are competing in the yachting regatta which starts on Saturday, and they and their parents will be staying at the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park," Mareikura said.
Napier Intermediate AIMS Games teams are ready and excited to be attending in 2022 with hockey, indoor bowls, 3x3 basketball and yachting. Photo / Supplied
She said everyone was very excited, including some of their returning students who competed at the last AIMS Games tournament.
Mareikura said it had been quite different to stay closer to the event.
"Last time we stayed in Waihī, which meant a trip of just over an hour but this time our journey will just under an hour.
"Despite the travel involved, everyone is pretty excited to be part of such an iconic international event."
Zespri AIMS Games tournament director Kelly Schischka. Photo / Jamie Troughton / Dscribe Media
Zespri AIMS Games tournament director Kelly Schischka said they were delighted to welcome the games back to Tauranga after two years without the tournament.
"I sense the city has really missed it, especially with the buzz and energy it brings. The incredible team that makes this event happen has worked so hard to get it over the line this year and I am so proud of what they have managed to achieve," Schischka said.
Rotorua NZ's chief executive Andrew Wilson said events made a significant contribution to the local economy.
"And we expect that the AIMS Games will bring in visitors to Rotorua whether they choose to stay here and make day trips to Tauranga for the event, or use their spare time to visit any number of the experiences on offer here," Wilson said.
"We are seeing a significant increase in demand here for events with an already packed calendar for November through to March, with more bookings continuing to come through."
- Additional reporting Zoe Hunter.
Factbox: • 2022 Zespri AIMS Games - Tauranga • September 3-9 • 350 schools • 23 sports
